Ugly girl

Chapter 19

I stand on Shay and Ben’s doorstep watching as Maze’s old beat-up car pulls away. She stayed for a short moment, checking that I was alright until I sent her away, knowing that was the last time I’d be spending my time with her. I put it to the back of my mind, desperate to get into my bed, climb under the covers and curl my knife into the palm of my hand.

Her car hardly gets two houses down the street when a familiar black Dodge RAM pulls into the vacated driveway. Slade’s engine rumbles loudly and echoes down the street until he finally cuts it and meets my eyes across the front yard.

I can’t handle this right now.

I’m about to storm inside and lock the doors before the passenger side door opens and my dick of a little brother comes tumbling out and falls face-first into the grass. Frustration takes over and as much as I want to hate on my bother right now, I can’t fault him for trying to protect me. Slade though, I know damn well that he was drinking at that party and he sure as hell shouldn’t be behind the wheel with my brother riding shotgun.

Slade gets out of his truck and walks around to scoop Blake out of the grass. He does it so effortlessly that I have to gawk as he leads Blake to the front door.

I unlock the door and swing it wide. Slade gives Blake a push, only Blake has other plans. He uses his moment to change direction and stumbles right into me. My knees buckle under his weight and I fall back against the door frame, groaning as my back hits the edge.

“Skylah,” Blake beams, reeking of alcohol and drenched from sweat, at least, I hope it’s sweat. “Where have you been? You missed the best party.”

“Get off me.”

Blake sucks in a sharp gasp and looks down at me in horror. “Sky,” he says, wide-eyed. “ I think you’re shrinking.”

I peel him off me and push him through the door, not caring when he trips over the couch and falls to the floor. He attempts to get to his feet but gives up halfway and collapses back onto his stomach where he promptly passes out.

I go to follow him inside but a warm hand curls around my wrist. “Wait, don’t go,” he insists. “We need to talk.”

Exhaustion hits me like a wrecking ball and I’m suddenly so tired that I can hardly stand. “I’ve got nothing to say to you, Slade.”

He steps into me. “But I’ve got plenty to say to you.” I don’t get a second to respond before his hand curls around the back of my neck and he pulls me to him. His lips crush down on mine and I instantly melt into him, hating myself for how badly I need it.

Is this him trying to help me forget or is this just him…wanting me?

I struggle to pull away so I give in and allow his tongue to explore my mouth. He crowds me through the door and as we step over the threshold, he kicks the door closed with his foot.

I’m picked up and he moves over to the couch where he sits down and places me directly over his lap. My legs come down on either side of his and he drops his hands to my waist, splaying his fingers to claim as much of my skin as possible.

I grind down on him and his hands instinctively move to my ass, taking hold and giving a good, firm squeeze. I moan into him, letting him know I’m down when a heavy snore comes from the floor and we pull apart.

I let out a shaky breath and look to Slade. “So, less than twenty minutes ago you find out that I was….you know, and the first thing you do is come here and man-handle me?”

His eyes go big and I see the words ‘Oh, shit,’ flashing brightly in his head. “Fuck, Sky, this isn’t why I came,” he says as though getting me to understand his intentions is the most crucial thing he’ll ever do.

I try and pull just a little further away to give myself a little breathing space as I indicate down to my brother. “It’s fine, Slade. It’s pretty damn obvious what brought you here.”

“No, I would have happily left him there for Damian to deal with. I needed to see you and he supplied me with a pretty good fucking excuse.”

I search his eyes, struggling to understand what the hell is going on here. “But why?”

“I told you, I need to talk to you. I need to explain myself.”

I shake my head, not ready to have this conversation. “I can’t…not tonight, it’s too much.”

He pushes my hair back off my face and I flinch away from his touch. I can’t explain it. One second, his tongue was down my throat and I was loving it, but he touches my face in an intimate way and my walls begin slamming down.

“You don’t need to talk,” he whispers, still with an odd hollowness in the depths of his eyes. “Just listen.”

I nod. “Okay, I can do that.”

Wanting to play this safe, I climb off his lap and crawl along until I’m in the furthest corner of the couch while trying to remember that I hate the guy, but those lines are becoming very blurred and despite everything that’s going on, wanting to hate him and actually feeling that way are two very different things.

I look up at Slade to find him watching me. He leans forward and props his elbows on his knees. “Where should I start?”

“I think you already know the answer to that.”

Guilt pours out of him as he nods and lets out a heavy breath. “Lucien came to me a few days before you started school-”

“Here?” I cut him off, sitting up straighter. “Lucien was here in Aston Creek?”

Slade nods and a cold shiver runs down my spine and the need to grab my knife from under my pillow sails through me. “He approached me one night at the basketball courts. I was out practicing for a big game-”

“Which courts?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, it fucking matters.”

He watches me a second before slowly accepting that this could turn into a very long conversation. “The court just down the road from here, the outdoor one.” I let out a slow breath and seeing that I’m ready for him to move on, he continues. “He told me that you were coming and that he wanted me to run you out.”

My brows dip down low. “Run me out?” I question. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He shrugs his shoulder. “My guess is that he wanted you to run back home. I don’t know, it wasn’t exactly a long conversation.”

“So, what did he tell you.”

“He said you were dangerous and that it was in my best interest to do whatever it took to run you out of here.”

“That’s why you were such an ass the second I walked through the door. I couldn’t figure out what I’d done to piss you off but I didn’t really care because fighting you felt so damn good.”

Slade’s lips pull up into a grin. “You threw me a fucking curveball, Virago. I wasn’t expecting that fiery attitude from you.”

I get him back on track, not wanting to get lost in this weird co

His eyes drop to the floor and I feel empty without them. “I didn’t want to,” he promises, gently shaking his head. “I had no fucking choice. At first, I told him no. I wasn’t interested in being a pawn in his bullshit games, but…”

“He threatened you.”

“He said that he could get to me anywhere, anytime and when I still refused, he pulled out his phone and showed me pictures of my little sisters at their swimming lesson, my mom, my dad, even my fucking brother in the military. I was trapped, I had no fucking way out.”

Understanding dawns and I suddenly find it impossible to even want to hate him anymore. “It was me or your family,” I say, glancing down at my passed out brother. “I would have done the same thing.”